The present disclosure is directed to a media for growing plants and more specifically, to a media for enhancing the growing of plants in a particulate base.
Soil or another base for which plants are grown is a mixture of differently sized fragments of rocks, minerals, plants and animal debris, organic material mixed with water and decomposed over years and transformed into what is known as conventional soil. At beachfronts or in deserts all of these elements are not present to create the soil which is either stable or have the appropriate nutrients produced by the decomposition of the natural materials which constitute soil.
The use of recycled material to create nutrients for fertilizing for soil is well-known. Mulch, compost or other techniques generally used recycled wood, paper, tree limbs, grass and other vegetable waste. Compost generally has a longitudinal shape in the size of approximately ¼ to ⅛ of an inch. Compost material must be continuously watered to decompose and generally requires up to 21 days. Bacteria, viruses and other pollutants are in the compost since they are required for the decomposition. When the compost is added to the soil or the base material, these bacteria and viruses exist. If the compost or mulch is only placed on the top, it generally absorbs some of the water while allowing some of it to seep through and to wash the bacteria and other pollutants into the soil and ultimately the water table. Mulch and compost offer some degree of a barrier for evaporation of the moisture from the soil. The compost is introduced into the soil by mechanical or manual processing with a hoe, rake or other tools. While providing nutrients, compost does not necessarily bond with or adhere to a granular base such as sand or sandy soil. Thus the stability of the sand or a particulate base is a function of the root system of the product therein.
The present media is used with a particulate base which addresses all the problems related to compost, mulch and other prior soil enrichment products.
The present media is to be used with a particulate base having particles of a first maximum diameter for growing plants. The media includes granules which are of biodegradable recycled material and have a diameter relative to the first maximum diameter to penetrate further into the particulate base with each watering. The granules include plant nutrients and are of a material which coagulates after watering and adheres to the particulates of the base. The diameter of the granules may be in the range of 1/16 to ⅛ of an inch.
A method of treating a particulate base having particles of a first maximum diameter for growing plants includes applying a media of granules having a diameter in the range of the first maximum diameter onto the particulate base; and repeatedly watering the media on the particulate base to allow the granules to penetrate further into the particulate base with each watering. The granules are of a material which coagulates to stabilize the particulate base between waterings and/or retain the water during waterings.
A method, of preparing the present media to be used with a particulate base having particles of a first maximum diameter for growing plants, includes reducing a starting material to particles of a size below a second maximum dimension; dividing the particles into first and second groups; and treating the first group with a first solution and the second group with a second solution different that the first solution which breaks down the particles. The two groups of broken down particles are combined and the two solutions are allowed to chemically react and produce a mass of particles which are conducive to plant growth. The mass granulated into granules of a diameter below the second maximum diameter as the media.
The second maximum dimension may be 0.5 inches and the third maximum diameter of the granules may be below 0.25 inches. The diameter of the granules maybe in the range of 1/16 to ⅛ of an inch. If the starting material is biodegradable recycled material, the granules are sanitized, for example, by ultra violate radiation. The particles may also be washed before treating. The first solution may be potassium hydroxide and the second solution may be nitric acid.